''Sailors Three'' (released in the US as ''Three Cockeyed Sailors'') is a 1940 British war

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Walter Forde Walter Forde (born Thomas Seymour Woolford, 21 April 1898 – 7 January 1984) was a British actor, screenwriter and director. Born in Lambeth, south London in 1898, he directed over fifty films between 1919 from the silent era through to 19 ...

and starring Tommy Trinder, Claude Hulbert and

Carla Lehmann Carla Lehmann (26 February 1917 – 1 December 1990) was a Canadian-born stage, film and television actress. Career Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in Canada, Lehmann was the youngest of the five children of Dr Julius Lehmann and Elsa Hillerns ...

. This was cockney music hall comedian Trinder's debut for

Ealing Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Ealing was hi ...

, the studio with which he was to become most closely associated. It concerns three British sailors who accidentally find themselves aboard a German ship during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Detailed surveys published in Britain in the early years of the war by the " Mass-Observation" organisation, showed the popularity of comedy with wartime cinema audiences. Films with the war as a subject were particularly well received, especially those movies showing the lighter side of service life, largely because many in the audience would soon be finding themselves in uniform. John Oliver writes in BFI screenonline, " to prepare such potential recruits for their own possible riotous and fun-packed life in the Royal Navy, Sandy Powell had already taken the shilling in ''All At Sea'' (dir.

Herbert Smith Herbert Smith LLP was a multinational law firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. The firm was founded in the City of London in 1882 by Norman Herbert Smith and merged with the Australian law firm Freehills on 1 October 2012, forming Herber ...

, 1939) before Tommy Trinder did likewise with ''Sailors Three'', following his comic misadventures in the army in '' Laugh It Off'' (dir. John Baxter) earlier that same year." The song "All Over The Place" (words by Frank Eyton; music by Noel Gay), sung by Trinder in the film, became one of the most popular of the war.Based on sheet music sales.

Plot

During the Second World War, three Royal Navy sailors on a drunken spree in a Brazilian neutral port mistake a German ship for their own and climb aboard. It turns out to be a pocket battleship, the ''Ludendorff'', and to the credit of the Royal Navy, the trio manages to capture the ship and all the Germans on board.

Cast

* Tommy Trinder as Tommy Taylor * Claude Hulbert as Llewellyn Davies, 'The Admiral' *

as Jane Davies * Michael Wilding as Johnny Meadows * James Hayter as Hans Muller * Jeanne de Casalis as Mrs Pilkington * Henry Hewitt as Professor Pilkington * Brian Fitzpatrick as Digby Pilkington * John Laurie as McNab * Harold Warrender as Pilot's Mate *

Eric Clavering Eric Clavering (1901–1989) was a British-born actor who spent much of his career in Canada. He played supporting roles in a number of British films during the Second World War. He later moved to Canada, and had a recurring role on the Canadi ...

as Bartender *

John Glyn-Jones John Glyn-Jones (28 August 1908 – 21 January 1997) was a British stage, radio, television and film actor. His father, William Glyn-Jones, was a Member of Parliament and he was educated at Bishop's Stortford College and Oxford University. He ...

as Best Man * John Wengraf as German Captain * Manning Whiley as German Commander * Victor Fairley as German Petty Officer * Alec Clunes as British Pilot * Derek Elphinstone as British Observer * E.V.H. Emmett as Newsreel Commentator (uncredited)

Critical response

* ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program TV listings, listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine, TV Guide Mag ...

'' called it "a funny comedy from the propagandistic Ealing studios". *Britmovie concluded director "

’s music-hall training enabled him to see that the gags were well-timed." *In the BFI screenonline, John Oliver writes, "Trinder may have made more distinguished films at Ealing, but Sailors Three was not only a promising start at the studio but the film that would remain his most successful outright comedy."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sailors Three 1940 films 1940s war comedy films Films directed by Walter Forde Ealing Studios films British war comedy films British black-and-white films Military humor in film World War II films made in wartime 1940 comedy films 1940s English-language films 1940s British films